free healthcare in america

[tali122]

is there any free healthcare in america?- what if a homeless person is seriously injured -do they refuse to attend too him until financial details are sorted out first?-is emergency treatment /certain groups exempt from medical costs in usa ?

[Ethel]

There are two types of free health care is America.

Medicare is for those aged 65 and over, and disabled people of all ages. It is funded by the taxpayer, like our NHS.

Medicaid, also run by the state, is for the very poor and each State has its own criteria.

[Clanad]

Actually, no one is turned away at an emergency room for immediate care. The hospital absorbs the cost and it's passed on to the bill paying customers. We do not have National coverage as I understand it in the U.K. We've noted the dissatisfaction with such a system in a country to the north of us and have opted out. Many from that country travel south to obtain health care and many from here travel north for the cheaper prescription drugs that are available...

[Clanad]

...and I'd gently argue with Ethel as to the "free" cost of Medicare and Medicaid... Both systems are in dire straits due to the costs. Most seniors are required to pay about $78 per person for Medicaid, which covers doctors and hospitalization and even then the co-pays and deductibles require supplemental insurance policies. Midicare is free, so to speak... everyone else winds up paying for the prescriptions... which I don't have a problem with, but again, the co-pays cost the recipient...There has to be a better way, but the costs of health care continue to skyrocket...

[fairkatrina]

when I went skiing in Vermont a couple of years ago we were warned that the rescue team would leave you on the mountain unless you had your medicard or a credit card with you. I didn't believe it until two days later when I had to make a makeshift stretcher out of two jackets to bring down a man with a broken leg, who had been told he had to make his own way down because he had no insurance details on him! Land of the free indeed...

[Clanad]

That's astounding, fairkatrinka... having been associated with the National Ski Patrol for years, I can only assume you were at a small, private ski area, since almost all others are served by the National Ski Patrol whose sole function is rescue and first aid as well as recovery to the bottom of the mountain without charge... here's one web site:

http://www.amnsp.org/AMNSPpages/History.html

If this happened the National Ski Patrol would like to be made aware of it...

[jake-the-peg]

Morgan Spurlock (the Supersize me guy) did a television program where he and his girlfriend tried to live off of the minimum wage for 30 days - when they needed treatment this was their experience

http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200604/200604 14/slide_20060414_284_105.jhtml

I don't know if it would have been different if it had of been life threatening, I guess their commitment didn't run to jumping under a bus for a show